Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ALTERNATIVE FUEL TO GASOLINE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an alternative fuel to
gasoline including alcohol as the principal component;
specifically, an alternative fuel to gasoline including a mixed
alcohol comprising several types of alcohol, a paraffinic
hydrocarbon of five to eight carbon atoms and toluene, having
a high output of power, is highly efficient and yet is
low-pollution.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Influence on health by air pollutants such as sulfur oxide
( SOX ) , nitrogen oxide ( NOX } , carbon monoxide ( CO ) , heavy metals
and dust that are emitted into the atmosphere upon combustion
of gasoline or light oil and the like in internal combustion
engines, or the influence of such pollutants on the natural
environment as acid rain has been gaining social attention as
pollution issues.
On the other hand, from the perspective that petroleum is
a limited resource, and that the distribution of oil-producing
areas are uneven, social requests such as energy conservation
and efficient use of resources have driven the development for
an alternative fuel to petroleum, out of which various synfuels
have been proposed.
However, most of the synfuels so far (mainly alcohol fuel)
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could not generate as much combustion power as that of gasoline,
and when such synfuel could produce an equivalent level of
combustion power, a special combustion device was necessary to
burn it. Therefore, although various synfuels have been
proposed, it can be said that not one has been put to practical
use on its own as a fuel for internal combustion engines, and
the reality is that such synfuels are only used in limited cases
from the point of saving petroleum, as alcohol fuel in which
alcohol is mixed with gasoline.
For instance, as a fuel that does not contain gasoline,
Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-50839 proposes a synfuel made
of alcohol mixed with hydrogen peroxide in order to increase its
combustion power (quantity of heat). However, as described in
this gazette, this synfuel has the problem of having to conduct
air conditioning by reforming the intake opening and the like
of the inlet manifold, and further, although its output and fuel
consumption are described to be equal to that of gasoline, because
of the instability of hydrogen peroxide, and because of its
handling difficulties such as requiring a long time to mix, it
is hardly put to practical use.
On the other hand, the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication
No. 5-140568 proposes a fuel composite consisting of reformed
gasoline, methanol and butanol at a mixing ratio of approximately
2:2:1, with antirust and pigment added. However, experiment on
the fuel composite described in the above-mentioned gazette
revealed that the high combustion temperature causes the
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temperature of the engine to rise too much, thereby accelerating
the deterioration of the packing that comprise structural parts
of the engine, and moreover, because of this heat, there were
problems such that even the mechanical parts of the internal
combustion engine were easily damaged, and that in certain
internal combustion engines, it was apt to cause knocking.
Furthermore, in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication
No. 9-227880, a synfuel made by blending alcohol and toluene 'in
reformed gasoline was proposed, and in the Japanese Laid-Open
Patent Publication No. 8-283751, an attempt to render the
aforementioned synfuel low-pollution was made by processing it
with an inorganic substance and the like.
However, although all of the synfuels mentioned above
effectively decreased the amount of CO and HC in the exhaust gas,
since reformed gasoline contains a large amount of sulfur and
also toxic substances such as benzene, these synfuels fail to
solve thoroughly the pollution problems arising from exhaust gas.
Moreover, because reformed gasoline varies in the element
composition according to the origin of petroleum and method of
reformation, the differences in the properties of each that arise
from such variation makes it difficult to regulate the synfuel
at a consistent quality. Therefore, depending on the reformed
gasoline that is blended, the performance of such synfuel becomes
uneven, so that differences occur in its antiknock quality, or
that the required horsepower is not generated.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims to provide a low-pollution synfuel
that restrains the emission of air pollutants such as CO, HC,
and Co2, has equal performance to gasoline in terms of output
and fuel efficiency, but yet is usable in existing internal
combustion engines for gasoline without making any
modifications.
The most distinctive feature of the present invention is the
fact that paraffinic hydrocarbon of five to eight carbon atoms
is mixed with a fuel of which alcohol is a principal component,
and further, by mixing paraffinic hydrocarbon of five to eight
carbon atoms and toluene with a mixed alcohol comprising several
different types of alcohol, a new, and moreover, low-pollution
fuel for internal combustion engines, with no gasoline included,
maintaining equal or more combustion power of gasoline, was
successfully developed.
That is, the present invention provides an alternative fuel
to gasoline, described in (1) to (5) below.
( 1 ) An alternative fuel to gasoline, said fuel including alcohol
as the principal component; wherein said fuel includes a
paraffinic hydrocarbon of five to eight carbon atoms.
( 2 ) An alternative fuel to gasoline, said fuel including alcohol
as the principal component; wherein said fuel includes a
paraffinic hydrocarbon of five to eight carbon atoms and toluene.
(3) An alternative fuel to gasoline described in 1 or 2 above,
wherein said paraffinic hydrocarbon is hexane.
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( 4 ) An alternative fuel to gasoline, said fuel including alcohol
as the principal component; wherein said alcohol is a mixed
alcohol of ethanol and/or methanol and isopropyl alcohol and
isobutanol; and said alternative fuel to gasoline includes said
mixed alcohol and hexane and toluene.
( 5 ) An alternative fuel to gasoline, said fuel including alcohol
as the principal component; wherein said alcohol is a mixed
alcohol of 9-6:1.5-0.5:2-1 weight ratio of ethanol and/or
methanol and isopropyl alcohol and isobutanol; and said
alternative fuel to gasoline includes a fuel comprised of 51-60
percentage by weight of said mixed alcohol with 20 plus or minus
percentage by weight of hexane and 30 plus or minus 5 percentage
by weight of toluene.
A detailed explanation of the present invention will follow.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the fuel of the present invention, it can be said that
the paraffinic hydrocarbon of five to eight carbon atoms play
an important role in producing the fuel properties that may well
replace gasoline. It is considered that the paraffinic
hydrocarbon of five to eight carbon atoms against alcohol becomes
an octane booster, contributing to the improvement of antiknock
quality. Furthermore, the use of paraffinic hydrocarbon of five
to eight carbon atoms with toluene increases the combustion
output of alcohol, thereby giving this fuel a performance that
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can easily stand comparison with gasoline as a fuel far internal
combustion engines. In addition, said paraffinic hydrocarbon
of five to eight carbon atoms is an extremely stable substance,
further having the effect of a dehydrator. Therefore, because
said paraffinic hydrocarbon of five to eight carbon atoms act
to prevent drops of water during storage, the fuel properties
of the fuel of the present invention will not deteriorate even
under long-term preservation, thus meeting the important
requisite for a fuel, that is, the advantage of being safe and
easy to handle.
Alcohol, which is the principal component, will not gain the
properties of a fuel for an internal combustion engine, when
ethanol or methanol is used alone. In order to obtain the
properties that would replace gasoline would necessitate the use
of several types of alcohol in combination, and a mixed alcohol,
comprising three or four combinations comprising ethanol and/or
methanol and isopropyl alcohol and isobutanol was the most
suitable combination.
In most types of alcohol fuel in the past, either methanol
or ethanol was used, and it can be said that the use of two kinds
of alcohol together, namely isopropyl alcohol and isobutanol,
is also one of the distinctive features of the present invention.
The desirable composition therefor is a composition existing in
the range of 9-6:1.5-0.5:2-1 by weight ratio.
The desirable mixing ratio of the above-mentioned mixed
alcohol, paraffinic hydrocarbon of five to eight carbon atoms
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and toluene, is a composition comprising 51-60 percentage by
weight of mixed alcohol, 20 plus or minus 5 percentage by weight
of said paraffinic hydrocarbon, and 30 plus or minus 5 percentage
by weight of toluene. Especially when mixing ratio of alcohol
falls out of this range, undesirable conditions occur, such that
the antiknock property tends to fall, and in certain internal
combustion engines, the required combustion output cannot be
produced.
Furthermore, adding a known stabilizer and antirust and the
like to this fuel would not cause any problems.
In addition, although the main objective of the fuel of the
present invention is its use as an alternative to gasoline for
internal combustion engines of automobiles, ships and boats and
the like, it is of course possible to use this fuel by mixing
it with gasoline, and also to use it as other industrial fuels
and household fuels.
Next, the fuel of the present invention will be explained
by embodiments and test results, but these will not limit the
present invention in any way.
Embodiment 1:
A fuel of the compound given below was made by using the mixed
alcohol comprising alcohol of ( 1 ) to ( 3 ) as follows . The order
of mixing each component is arbitrary.
Mixed alcohol: 52 percentage by weight
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(1) methanol 36 percentage by weight
(2) isopropyl alcohol 10 percentage by weight
(3) isobutanol 6 percentage by weight
toluene 33 percentage by weight
paraffinic hydrocarbon (hexane) 15 percentage by weight
Embodiment 2:
A fuel of the compound described below was made by using a
mixed alcohol of Embodiment 1, of which methanol was replaced
with ethanol.
Mixed alcohol: 53 percentage by weight
(1) ethanol 44 percentage by weight
(2) isopropyl alcohol 3 percentage by weight
(3) isobutanol 6 percentage by weight
toluene 29 percentage by weight
paraffinic hydrocarbon (hexane) 18 percentage by weight
Test Result 1:
When the octane number of the fuel in Embodiment 1 above was
compared with the standard value of gasoline, while the standard
value of gasoline with regard to the octane number for high-octane
gasoline and regular gasoline was 95 and 85, respectively, the
octane number of the fuel of the present invention was 104.3.
Test Result 2:
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A 10.15 mode method test was conducted on the fuel of
embodiment 2 above, using a test car with an engine having a total
emission of 1500 cc (type: Toyota E-AE110). The results of this
test indicated a fuel efficiency of 8.9 km/1, a similar value
to that of gasoline (8.7 km/1). The components found in the
exhaust gas were as follows. (Testing body: Japanese Automobile
Transport Technology Association)
Component Embodiment 2 Gasoline
CO 1.19 ppm 193.01 ppm
HC 6.36 ppmc 10.86 ppmc
NOX 38.81 ppm 6.96 ppm
COZ 0.841% 0.848%
The results of this test indicate that, in the fuel of the
present invention, CO is controlled to approximately 1/5 and HC
to approximately 1/2 compared to those of gasoline, and the fact
that CO is low indicates that complete combustion of the fuel
has taken place.
In addition, because the fuel of the present invention does
not contain reformed gasoline, substantially no sulfur oxides
exist in the exhaust gas.
Test Result 3:
With respect to the fuel as described in Embodiment 2, heat
quantity, engine revolutions, mileage, ignition point, copper
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corrosion, gum test and octane number were compared to those of
gasoline fuel, and the results of all of the above could easily
stand comparison with those of gasoline. The testing results
of the ignition point and flash point etc. for the fuel of the
present invention are as follows. (Testing body: Tokyo Kagaku
Bunseki Center)
Embodiment 2 Gasoline
Ignition point 404 °C 300 °C
Flash point -14.4 °C -40 °C
Copper corrosion 1
Gum test 0 0
Octane number 104.3 85(regular)/95 (high-octane)
As is clear from the detailed explanation above, the
alternative fuel to gasoline in the present invention emits very
little exhaust gas that contains CO, HC, C02, SOX, which are causes
of pollution, and further displays performance that easily
stands comparison with gasoline in terms of heat quantity, engine
revolution, mileage, horsepower etc., thereby being extremely
useful as a low-pollution fuel that can be used for internal
combustion engines instead of gasoline.
